This political campaign has been going on so long some of us over a certain age are beginning to wonder if we’ll live to see the end of it.

I can’t remember when it started exactly – maybe three years ago – and how many people were in the hunt initially – maybe a hundred – and which of them stood for what, or were in favor of this but against that. I do remember that in the early debates there were so many people on stage it looked like the senior prom at a high school for wonks and smartypants.

By now, of course, most of those people have left the stage. Until Hillary returns from the graveyard – is there any doubt she will? – we have only two candidates to keep track of, more than enough. Plus, at any minute, the two will each name a running mate, who in their turn will travel all over the country blatting about this and that, insulting each other, and putting their feet in their mouths so the TV pundits will have something to cluck about.

So here’s what the race looks like at the moment to us whose eyesight is fading and whose attention span can only be measured in nanoseconds. There’s a fairly old guy who has spent too much time in the Arizona sun contending with a much younger, much taller, much thinner guy from Chicago. Neither one of these men has been nominated, so we must attach the word “presumptive” to whatever they say or do.

This is a tiresome but necessary precaution acknowledging that the undead still lurk in the shadows of the Democratic Party, clapping for themselves, pointing at each other, and feeling our pain. The Republican also-rans appear to be properly interred except for Mitten, who is often mentioned as the presumptive old guy’s presumptive co-candidate.

The tall, slender guy from Chicago is said to have winnowed his Veep list down to three: Evan Bayh, Joe Biden, both U.S. Senators, and Tim Kaine, Governor of Virginia. Some fear that if Joe Biden, the longtime Democratic senator from Delaware, is chosen, the man from Chicago may never get another word in. Biden was elected to the Senate 35 years ago and has not shut up since.

It may not count for much in politics, but the younger guy has an amazing shot from three-point range on the basketball court. It’s a quirky kind of half-jump shot that starts at his hip. He’s a lefty, this young guy. He’s also black, a commonplace in basketball, but pretty unusual in a presidential candidate. Jesse Jackson comes to mind, but he became a kind of comedic footnote even before he embarked on a second career of self-embarrassment.

This time it’s different. It is really quite thrilling that we have a black man not only running for president but favored to win. And he got to the top of the ticket by beating a determined and famous white woman. What’s more – and this is what makes it all so exhilarating – he got to the top of the ticket by being smarter than everyone who ran against him. Before he has even been officially nominated in Denver, the man from Chicago has already established himself as the most thoughtful, intelligent and inspiring presidential candidate of any color, from any party, in a very long time.

Many of us who have lived most of a lifetime in this racist society never thought we’d see such a thing. It is amazing and moving, and now we’d like it to be over so we can go back to juggling our precious TV time between the baseball pennant races and the Olympics.

There is no time in a schedule this crowded and demanding for Chris Matthews, Keith Olbermann, Pat Buchanan, and all the other talking heads. Let’s have the party conventions tomorrow and the general election next week. We need more sports and less politics in our lives. We need a better balance.